Mission Statement
The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders is committed to providing comprehensive, state-of-the-art undergraduate pre-professional education that includes discipline-specific course work and observation. In keeping with university requirements, this includes a broad-based General Education component. The department also provides graduate-level course work and practicum experiences for those interested in entering professional practice in either speech-language pathology or audiology, a university teaching and research position, or a management/administrative position in service delivery settings.

The department is committed to advancing the state of knowledge in both basic and applied aspects of communication sciences and disorders through its master's and doctoral research degrees and the research activities of its faculty and students and to providing service to the profession, university and client communities at local, state, national and international levels. Through its Applied Laboratory the department seeks to provide outreach services to the region as part of the clinical teaching component of its mission and to provide a clinical research resource for students and faculty.

Goals

Providing course work and observation at the undergraduate level, including study of the underlying science and development of human communication, and an introduction to disorders that may occur in human communication.

Providing course work at the undergraduate level that will prepare students for (1) graduate study in the areas of speech-language pathology or audiology, (2) graduate school in a related discipline and (3) a liberal education in the discipline of communication sciences and disorders.

Offering a minor in communication sciences and disorders for undergraduate students majoring in related fields.

The department offers a B.A. and B.S. in communication sciences and disorders. The department also offers the M.S. in speech-language pathology (professional preparation), the M.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders (research), the Au.D. (Doctor of Audiology) and the Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders with emphases in audiology, speech-language pathology and/or speech and hearing science. Inquiries concerning these graduate programs should be directed to the dean of The Graduate School or the department's graduate coordinator.

A master's degree is the minimum requirement for competency/certification endorsed by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and for Virginia licensure in speech-language pathology. Effective 2007, ASHA will require 75 post-baccalaureate credits for clinical certification in audiology and in 2012 a doctoral degree will be required

Applied Speech, Hearing and Language Laboratory
The JMU applied teaching laboratory for CSD students provides the following services for communicatively impaired individuals of the university community and its service area. Appointments for services may be made by any member of the community.

1 A biological sciences course is required. It may be taken as part of the General Education courses or as a non-departmental required course.

2 The General Education program contains a set of requirements each student must fulfill. The number of credit hours necessary to fulfill these requirements may vary.

3 The foreign language requirement may be satisfied by successful completion of the second semester of the intermediate level of the student's chosen language (typically 232) or by placing out of that language through the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures' placement test.

Communication Sciences and Disorders Minor
The minor program in communication sciences and disorders requires a minimum of 18 credit hours in courses with CSD prefixes, excluding CSD 300 and CSD 314. Students are advised to check prerequisites for courses.